Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.

Wednesday, 18 July 2018

Vladimir Putin: Restoring Faith in Humanity

We can no longer tolerate the current state of affairs in the world.” ~ Putin, addressing the UN in September 2015, referring to Washington’s strategy of using terrorist organisations for its own ends. Less than 48 hours after these words were uttered, Russian warplanes began pounding terrorist targets in Syria…

To remain on top, and to keep everyone else on their knees, the stewards of the Empire of Chaos give extremists free reign across the Earth. 76 countries are now involved in America’s never-ending ‘War on Terror’. The US has suffered a bitter defeat in Syria, losing the so-called Islamic State as a geopolitical chess piece to Russia’s new military might, but the ideological or ‘systemic’ war is still being fought globally, and is far from over.

The Empire and its proxies can never really achieve victory, but they can sustain hegemony – indefinitely, they hope. Until they no longer can, countless more souls will likely be subjected to the horrors of war, proxy war and trade war. But the reality these psychopathic monsters wish to manifest seems to be losing traction in the mass mind with each passing day.

Vladimir Putin, with a growing number of nations, has formed an Axis of Resistance, effectively splitting the world into two diametrically-opposed visions of global relations. The Empire is all about ‘American’ bullying for Unipolar Dominance, while Russia, China and other nations who resist the imperialists, cooperate together towards a common future.

”When we tried to manipulate or influence elections or even overturned governments, it was done with the best interests of the people in that country in mind.” ~ Former head of US Intelligence, James Clapper (Source)

Believers in American exceptionalism see themselves as the natural rulers of the world. But resistance to that rule has been increasing. Its diminished global influence in recent years suggests that the very concept of a global hegemon could become a thing of the past. Its recent antics show this: threatening yet another country with war, in this case Venezuela, whose president is not toeing the line; threatening to slap disobedient EU firms with sanctions for doing business with Russia; even threatening to sanction Turkey, a major NATO ally, for buying Russian military hardware.

The US is losing its powers of persuasion, like the dollar (as global reserve currency) and Hollywood (as the global standard-bearer of movie narratives). Its dominance in academia, commerce, arms markets, the media, humanitarianism, etc. are all way down compared to where they were just 10 years ago. Short on ‘soft power’, the only thing it has left on its downward trajectory, and by which it can get attention, is explicit threats of violence or other punitive measures.

End of Imperialism

It’s gotten to the point where the US is threatening to withdraw from the UN because that institution does not always bend to its will. At the same time, Vladimir Putin and his allies have expressed their wish to reinforce and reform the only body they see as being capable of guaranteeing world peace and security.

Last month Putin and the Chinese president Xi Jinping released a joint statement in which both countries set themselves the goal of reforming the UN and thereby, essentially, outlawing countries from acting unilaterally without a UN-approved mandate. For far too long certain countries have bluntly ignored the rules of the UN Charter by interfering in other countries’ affairs igniting war after war in defiance of those rules.

Russia and China seek to stop all illegal interventions in a step-by-step fashion, through reforms at the UN, which may precipitate a huge step forward for the world. If they attract more countries into supporting this initiative, it will suffocate those who conduct imperialism from the shadows.

BEIJING, June 8. Moscow and Beijing will jointly support the necessary and reasonable reforms of the United Nations, including its Security Council, according to the two countries’ statement signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping following Russian-Chinese talks.

According to the statement, the parties will uphold the UN’s pivotal role in global governance and jointly support the necessary and reasonable reforms of the organization and its Security Council “in order to better comply with the UN Charter.” Moscow and Beijing believe it is necessary to discuss these reforms “solely through broad and democratic consultations, without imposing artificial time limits and immature projects.” Russia and China believe it is necessary to look for a “package” solution taking into account the interests and concerns of all parties; proceed from the premise that the reform of the UN Security Council, should, first of all, expand the representation of the developing countries and their right to vote to make sure that a wide range of small and medium-sized states have more opportunities to take part in the Security Council’s work and the decision-making process on the basis of the principle of rotation.”

In their joint statement, Vladimir Putin and Xi Xinping highlighted their intention “to counteract attempts by any countries to unilaterally conduct military operations without the authorization of the UN Security Council or without the consent of the legitimate government of a country on whose territory such actions are carried out.” Russia and China will also take part in shaping the equal and indivisible security architecture “based on the refusal to use force or the threat of the use of force, non-interference in the internal and external affairs of other countries, the resolution of international disputes by purely political and diplomatic means.”(Source)

Reforming the UN as a front against bullies, while unifying the world through mutual cooperation and respecting each other’s sovereignty, may seem hopelessly utopian at this time, what with the US envoy to the UN in April going as far as saying that, ”Russia will never be our friend, we’ll slap them when needed.” But what if all that harsh rhetoric and all those punitive sanctions amount to little more than ‘sound and fury’?

Russia and China have been a thorn in the side of the imperialists, vetoing all attempts by the Americans to rubber-stamp a bombing campaign against the Syrian Arab Army. As a Russian woman living in the formerly IS-occupied city of Deir ez-Zor reported:

“The situation was becoming catastrophic. There was a danger that upon entering the city, the militants would simply kill everybody, not to mention me as a Russian,” Irina recalled. “After the Russian vetoes [between 2011 and 2014, Russia and China vetoed several Security Council resolutions on Syria] these militants were dead set against Russia; this was no secret.

The terrorist groups were counting on US air support; their whole operation depended on it. It’s clear which faction sides with barbarism, and which sides with humanity.

Dawn of a New World

Putin, with increasing help, has exposed the imperialists as scared toothless bullies, reduced to hiding behind proxies while they radicalize the most evil elements among mankind, whether it be jihadists in the Middle East, neo-Nazis in the Ukraine or revolutionary extremists elsewhere to fulfill their strategic goals. The Russian president, in clear contrast, and truthful to his pledge to help out out every country beset by terrorism, has given free shipment of military hardware, expertise, intelligence and even direct assistance by way of the Russian military to countries who ask for it. By rewarding and supporting the better parts of humanity, he has provided a means for those countries and people who are willing to fight for what is right. In doing so, he effectively restores faith in humanity and shows that we don’t have to be at the mercy of tyrants, but instead can rise above them.

Another world is possible, but it won’t happen without everyone who sees that another world is possible doing what they can to realize it. I’ll leave you with this excerpt from a motivational speech Putin gave some 18 years ago to Russian forces reeling from the chaos of the Western-backed Second Chechen War. Putin tells his subordinates not to drink to their fallen comrades until after the battle has been won, so that their sacrifices will not have been in vain…